Acer aims at the fully loaded tablet market

GILLIAN SHAW, Vancouver Sun06.29.2012

In the same week Google and Asus announced the Nexus 7, Acer announced its Iconia Tab A700 will start selling in Canada.

Not to be outdone by Microsoft with its newly announced Surface, Google has jumped on the tablet bandwagon with the Nexus 7, a seven-inch tablet it developed with Asus that seems to be aimed squarely at knocking Amazon’s Kindle Fire off its perch at the top of the budget-tablet rankings.

In the same week Google and Asus announced the Nexus 7, Acer announced its Iconia Tab A700 will start selling in Canada. Unlike the Nexus 7, the A700 is aimed at the fully loaded tablet market, with a 10.1-inch full HD display with 1920-by-1200 resolution. It’s an Android tablet, running Android 4.0, although you might expect an update to the new Jelly Bean when it’s released. Powered by a Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor, it has a number of features shared by other tablets in its class, including an HDMI port, a micro-USB port and a MicroSD card slot to expand the tablet’s 32GB on-board storage. Battery life is up to 10.5 hours at video playback, or close to eight hours for Web surfing. Its Internet connection is via Wi-Fi and it has two cameras, one a five-megapixel rear-facing and the other a one-megapixel front-facing camera. acer.com

Nexus 7, Asus and Google, from $209 Cdn

Not to be outdone by Microsoft with its newly announced Surface, Google has jumped on the tablet bandwagon with the Nexus 7, a seven-inch tablet it developed with Asus that seems to be aimed squarely at knocking Amazon’s Kindle Fire off its perch at the top of the budget-tablet rankings. At less than half the price of Apple’s third generation iPad, it appears Google isn’t concerned about matching the overall leader in the tablet market. Instead it’s offering up a budget answer for the consumer looking for a device that’s pricier than a basic ereader but has communications and entertainment capability to make it a one-device fits all — for both your pocket and your pocketbook. It will run on Google’s newly announced Android 4.1 operating system, known as Jelly Bean, and be available through Google’s online Google Play store, which also gives you access to some 600,000 apps and games. The Nexus 7 has a 1,280-by-800 pixel display, nowhere near the eye-popping Retina display of the new iPad but better than the Kindle Fire. It will run on a Tegra 3 quad-core processor from Nvidia, with sensors, including a gyroscope and accelerometer for gamers. Its profile is a skinny one centimetre and it weighs just over 300 grams. It has only one camera, a front-facing one for video calling, probably a good move by Google because it keeps the cost down and recognizes the fact that most people carry around a smartphone with a camera. It has Wi-Fi connectivity and Bluetooth and NFC (Near Field Communications). It promises 9½ hours on a single battery charge, which is useful when you’re trying to finish reading a book, playing games or watching movies on a long flight. It’s available for pre-order now, with an 8GB version at $209 and a 16 GB Nexus 7 at $259. Shipping is currently promised in two or three weeks. You can pre-order at googleplay.com.

gshaw@vancouversun.com

vancouversun.com/digitallife

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